Lewisburg Awards $107,224 2026 Paving Contract; Council Debates Livestreaming Meetings

Lewisburg Borough Council voted to award its 2026 street paving contract to Gutelius Excavating, accepting an apparent low bid of $107,223.80 for paving work on three borough streets. Council approved the contract during a Tuesday night public meeting, and the award was announced as part of the borough’s 2026 paving program.

The contract specifies paving on North Eighth Street, Spruce Street and the northern section of North Front Street. Borough officials indicated the work is planned to begin in May and should be completed in the summer, placing the timeline within the borough’s 2026 construction season.

Twelve companies submitted bids for the project, Borough Manager William “Bill” Lowthert said at the meeting. Lowthert noted that bidding early in the year helped attract competitive pricing, a strategy the borough relied on while evaluating the submissions from a dozen firms.

Local coverage rounded the bid in different ways; the precise tabulated low bid was $107,223.80, while some reports listed the amount as $107,224 or $107,223 in headlines. Gutelius Excavating is based in Mifflinburg and was described at the meeting as the “apparent low bidder” for the contract that will fund the resurfacing work.

Council business that evening also turned to operational issues beyond paving. Vice President Jordi Comas asked about options for livestreaming borough council meetings while council member Samantha Pearson sat beside him, and resident Sam McBride urged council to make the alley between Seventh and Sixth streets one-way and to restrict delivery trucks. Junior council members Gibson O’Mealy and Eli Kalberer were noted as listening during McBride’s comments.

The paving award sits alongside other municipal projects already in motion: the borough issued a Request for Proposals titled “NORTH FOURTH STREET NEIGHBORHOOD REVITILIZATION PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND CONCEPT PLANNING AND ENGINEERED DESIGNS” on July 3, 2025. That RFP set July 31, 2025 as the proposal deadline, named Shannon Berkey as the Lewisburg Borough Community Development Grant Manager contact, and listed a project window beginning August 25, 2025 with completion by June 30, 2026, with scope covering design, permitting and construction documents.

Officials did not present an executed contract copy at the meeting; Borough Manager William “Bill” Lowthert remains the point of contact for bid verification and schedule confirmation. Council minutes and the formal contract will clarify whether the $107,223.80 figure is the final contract price or an apparent low bid pending administrative checks and insurance or bonding requirements.